Holy Motors
So there’s a lot to unpack in Holy Motors. Obviously I’m not going to cover it all in this post because there’s too much so I’ll just pick bits and pieces. I’ve spent the last 12 hours trying to figure out what I have just watched. Even after reading an article SBS posted on the movie, a “cheat sheet”, I still have little to no understanding of the film.
On the surface, I think Denis Lavant’s character is employed by a voyeuristic (I don’t mean this in the sexual sense of the word I just can’t think of a better one) company or person (The man who appears in the limo at one point) to live out various scenarios for the viewing pleasure of others, maybe the people in the cinema at the beginning of the film. This idea of the film’s plot is kind of undone as Lavant mentions he doesn’t see the cameras anymore. This kind of made me think, was there ever any cameras? Is he hallucinating this whole thing? There were so many points in the film when I assumed the ending would be he wakes up and it’s all a dream.
Clearly the film has much deeper meaning than this basic plot. I think there was a lot of commentary on how people represent themselves, the mask we put on when going out into the world. In the case of Lavant’s character, and even Edith Scob, they very literally wear a costume or disguise, but in reality people make various choices in the representation of themselves to the outer world. For most of the film, I assumed the man we see leaving a house and saying goodbye to his children is Lavant’s true self. It wasn’t until he arrives at his last appointment that I realised this wasn’t the case, and he has the most intense acting job ever.
Another thought I had while watching Holy Motors was how quite slight changes could be made to it to make it a “Hollywood” film, potentially a comedy. My thought process is, in showing the preparation for each character and reducing the amount of “appointments” Lavant had during his day, allowing each to be developed more, the film could appeal to a wide audience. Also removing a lot of the darker elements of the film. One thing I found unnerving about the film was the incredibly level of detail and planning in all of the character’s Lavant plays, yet his only preparation is a quick glance at a file. I think what I’m trying to say is the elements and choices that construct the film form in its actual state could in part be used to create a similar film with a much different meaning.
Holy Motors has a clear pattern in it. To use the example from this weeks reading, Holy Motors form would be
ABCBDBEBFB… continuing however many times he got out of the car (nine?), B being his time in the Limo. Without this constant return to the Limo I think the film would be unwatchable as it the only pattern the audience can clearly see and seek comfort in its repetition.
I also want to discuss one scene that particularly struck a chord with me. When the least terrible thing a character does is steal and eat flowers from graves you know you’re gonna be in for a rough ride. This scene was so difficult to watch for so many reasons but my biggest problem was the high level of misogyny. Lavant’s character literally picks up and takes a woman, dresses her in a make shift burqa before undressing in front of her. Seeing an erect penis without any warning is an incredibly jarring experience. However, this scene follows probably my favourite moment of the film when Lavant eats sushi in his limo dressed as his character for the next appointment, I found the juxtaposition very amusing.
That kind of wraps up what I wanted to say about Holy Motor for now. A quick side note from this weeks reading – I never realized the fate of Ms Gulch in The Wizard of Oz is never explicitly stated, are we meant to assume Dorothy actually killed her? What happened to Ms Gulch??